Finding A Home
by acj11
Summary: Neville's life is turned upside down when his secret is revealed. How will he deal with the consequences. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and all its characters are property of JK Rowling.

**Chapter 1: Coming Out.**

The Gryffindor common room was alive with laughter; music and dancing as all the children were celebrating the demise of the dark lord Voldemort. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were putting on a spectacular display of fireworks and displaying other novelty items they had created for their new business they were planning on opening and Hermione Granger, a bushy-haired, fit young woman was busy playing muggle music on an old record player that professor McGonagall had allowed her to borrow for the night, provided that it be returned before curfew and in one piece. One boy, however, was completely oblivious to the uninhibited celebrations being engaged in around him.

Instead, the brown-haired, brown-eyed wizard was tapping his fingers nervously on the table in front of him; debating with himself as to whether or not he should send the letter he had just finished writing out to his grandmother.

Neville Longbottom sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He had always been a rather timid boy and up until the battle at the ministry of magic a few days ago, he had never believed that he truly belong in Gryffindor. The boy had proved himself that day and found himself getting a major confidence boost. That did not make what he was about to do any easier, but the confidence boost he gained from the ministry of magic battle that had him realise that he could do this and that he had the support of all his friends in the Gryffindor tower. The young man had written a letter to his grandmother, in it he explained that he believed... No he knew... That he was gay. He did not know what his grandmother's stance on homosexuality was as it had never really been a topic they had discussed, but he knew that he had to tell her, he was sick of lying and having to pretend that he was interested in girls. He just hoped that she would not have a problem with it.

Neville had told people previously about his desires and sexual orientation and it went well most of the time. The first person the boy had ever told was Ginny Weasley. She was dating him at the time, about a year ago, but Neville felt like he wasn't happy with the relationship and he realised that he was more interested in hanging out with the boys than going on dates with the red-head. The day he came out was just like any other, they were sitting in the sun studying for their final exams, just before the ill-fated last task of the tri-wizard tournament. Ginny was continually trying to distract him by making suggestive comments and when she leaned over, intent on giving him a sweet kiss, Neville pulled away saying that he was trying study. The two started fighting with Ginny claiming that Neville never wanted to kiss her and didn't seem to miss her when she was not around. Some point throughout the argument Neville turned towards her and screamed in frustration that he was gay. Neville regretted yelling that immediately and clasped his hands over his mouth to prevent himself from saying more incredibly stupid things and ran away from her, tears pricking at his eyes.

He tried to avoid Ginny for the rest of the evening, but the girl was persistent and trapped him in a corner on his way to the Gryffindor dorms back from the great hall. Neville felt himself sweating profusely and started fiddling with the strap on his satchel before she started talking. What she said shocked Neville greatly. He was expecting her to scream and shout at him for being a freak of nature and leading her on. Instead, she explained that she was angry and hurt that he used her to cover it up, but also that she understood his reluctance to come out and that he was not ready to come out to anyone just yet. She was also kind enough to promise not to tell anyone his dirty little secret, but she strongly encouraged him to tell the rest of their friends as she believed they would support him no matter what.

It was quite a long while after that before he finally felt comfortable telling his secret to his other friends, namely those he shared a dorm room with. They took the news rather well he thought. Some of his roommates were a bit awkward after he told them, particularly Ron and Seamus, but that soon passed when they realised that he was still the same Neville and was not about to accost them while they were in the bathroom or sleeping. Soon everything returned to normal, with the exception that Neville could now discuss his love life with the girls and Harry when the other boy eventually came out.

After Harry revealed himself to be also gay, the other boys in their dorm room were convinced that Neville and Harry were dating. The two boys quickly put that rumour to rest though, assuring their roommates that they had nothing but purely platonic feelings for each other.

The support of his friends ensure Neville that he could send the letter, so he sealed the envelope and went in search of Harry intent on asking him if he could possibly borrow his owl for the night. There were only 5 days until the end of term and Neville knew that it would be more brave and Gryffindor of him if he would tell his Gran face-to-face, but he felt that he would feel more comfortable writing to her and knowing beforehand if he was welcome or not as opposed to going all the way home, only to be kicked out the moment he walked through the door.

He found Harry sitting on the most comfortable couch in the whole of the Gryffindor tower conversing with Dean while drinking some of the illicit fire whisky the twins had somehow managed to sneak into the Gryffindor tower right under professor McGonagall's nose. When Harry noticed Neville standing in front of him, the emerald-eyed boy grinned and raised his glass towards him, nearly spilling the precious liquid inside. Clearly Harry had had a little too much to drink tonight. "Hey Neville!" Harry yelled jubilantly "You been sittin' in the corner all on your own all nigh'! Come! Sit! Be merry!"

Neville noticed that Harry was slurring his words already and decided that after he sent his letter that he would try to convince the other boy to go to bed seeing as though they actually had classes tomorrow and it would not be good for them to be hung over, even if it was the last week.

Taking a seat next to Harry, Neville turned to the other boy "Hey Harry. I know I've been a little antisocial tonight but I have been busy writing my Gran a letter. Actually that's why I came over here. I was wondering if I would be able to possibly borrow Hedwig for tonight to send it to her? I just don't think I will send it at all if I don't send it tonight."

Harry looked at Neville, his alcohol addled mind attempting to process what Neville was asking "Sure Neville, you can borrow her. I'll even walk you down to the owlery. I should probably stop drinking now anyway." The two boys got up and Neville waited by the portrait hole for Harry to return with his invisibility cloak. When Harry came back down he swung the cloak over the two of them and they set off for the owlery.

The two boys walked mostly in silence until they reached the stairs leading to the owlery so that they would not get caught out of bed after curfew. The need to remain silent meant that Neville had even more time to think to himself. At the forefront of his mind was how his Gran would take the news, thinking that the worse case scenario was his Gran would probably ban him from seeing his mum and dad, or maybe castrate him so that there would be no point in him having any sexual thoughts about anyone let alone another male. He also briefly wondered if his parents would have been accepting of his sexual preference. He decided that it wouldn't matter much in the long run, being that they would likely never be released from St. Mungo's.

By the time they reached the top of the owlery Neville was a nervous wreck. Harry didn't notice though, it was too dark for him to be able to see Neville's unnaturally pale face and shaking hands. Not that Harry would have been sober enough to make an observation like that no matter what light they were in. Harry started talking rather suddenly startling Neville from his thoughts and making him jump. "What did you want to send to you Gran that couldn't wait to morning anyway?"

"I'm coming out to her" Neville replied, his voice slightly shaky.

Harry paused mid-step and attempted to look at Neville despite the darkness surrounding them. "Oh, well good luck then. I hope everything works out well for you." He said finally.

When they walked into the enclosure, the first thing they noticed was the chaos surrounding the tiny room. Birds were flying everywhere, some returning from gathering a letter or coming back with the fruits of their hunting trip, others were preening themselves and getting ready to deliver letters. The second thing they noticed was the sheer amount of bird droppings. There was so much of the stuff coating the entire room so much that it looked disturbingly like snow. Brushing this aside, Harry went in search of Hedwig, finding her devouring what looked to be a mouse- or what used to be a mouse anyway. "Hey Hedwig" Harry cooed to the bird. "I have a letter for you to deliver."

Harry stroked her feathers for a while before reaching towards Neville who placed his letter in Harry's outstretched palm. Harry strapped the letter to the birds leg and lifted her out the window. The pair watched the bird fly off into the distance. "Do you think she will be ok with it?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"I hope so." Neville replied. "I'm not sure what I will do if she doesn't. I'm just sick of having to hide behind a mask all the time."

Neville was momentarily shocked when he felt Harry's quidditch-toned arms envelope him in a hug and although the two weren't dating, Neville felt himself snuggle further into his friend's arms enjoying the feeling of being cared for.

"Come on." Harry said releasing Neville from the hug. "We have classes remember? I have to sleep of my drunkeness too."

Neville chuckled at this, agreeing whole-heartedly that Harry definitely needed to sober up before potions tomorrow morning. Snape would have a field day if Harry rocked up to work drunk. The pair walked back to the common room with Neville feeling nervous but also cautiously optimistic about what tomorrow would bring. Oh boy, he was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

Early the next morning, many miles away, Augusta Longottom awoke to the sound of urgent tapping on her window. Walking over, she slid the latch over and pushed the window open allowing the bright white owl to enter. Hedwig held her leg out to the woman and patiently waited for Augusta to remove the letter from her claw.

Augusta then unfurled the parchment as she watched Hedwig take a break on the perch in the corner that had some left over biscuits and water that she could eat. Augusta immediately recognised the messy scrawl of her grandson and began reading:

_Dear Gran,_

_I had to send this letter tonight as I believed that I would not have the nerve to send it if I waited any longer. What I have to say may seem bad and I am unsure what your feelings may be on the matter, but I cannot hide it anymore._

_The truth, Gran, is that I am gay. Always have been and always will. I hope that you will accept me as I am because you are my Gran and I truly love you._

_Love Neville._

Augusta re-read the letter a number of times as the message was yet to sink in. Her grandson? Gay? To say it was a shock would be an understatement. She quickly grabbed a blank piece of parchment, wrote a short reply and attached it to the owl's leg and sent the bird on its way back to Hogwarts to deliver the letter.

**AN:** Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and please let me know if you think I should continue... Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated but please no flamers. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Hey everyone, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to review and put this story on alert, it means a lot to me... I hope that you all like this chapter. I'm not sure I was quite happy with the first chapter, but I quite regularly find the first chapter of many stories bland. Just so you know, my chapters aren't normally this long, I think I just am unusually motivated with this one. Please review and let me know what you think... I would really appreciate it.

**Chapter 2- The Headmaster's Office.**

Neville sat at the Gryffindor table during breakfast, his food momentarily forgotten as he stared at the violent red envelope that had arrived with the post this morning. His Grandmother's short reply was unceremoniously screamed at him for the entire school to hear, the crushing words echoing in his head.

_I have no Grandson._

The distraught teen was only vaguely aware of someone rubbing soothing circles on his back. He had been disowned. To Neville it felt like someone had dumped a large bucket of ice cold water all over him. Of all the scenarios that he had thought of, this one had not even been considered and now the poor boy didn't know what his next course of action would be.

His mind was brought back to the present when Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face. He realised that she was trying to ask him a question. "Sorry 'Mione, I must have just spaced out for a minute there."

"That's ok Neville." Hermione said with concern written all over her face. "I was just saying that we should probably go and see professor Mconagall about this and discuss your options. It's almost the holidays and you are still not of age so you need a proper guardian."

"He does not!" Ron said indignantly. "He can come and stay with me at my house!"

Hermione turned to stare at Ron as if he had just suggested that Voldemort was cute in a tutu. "How do you figure that?" She asked "He needs to talk to someone about this. You also haven't even asked the rest of your family if he could stay. What is Neville going to do if they say that he can't? No, that is not a suitable solution. I believe that the next course of action is alerting a professor to the problem."

Ron began to turn red at Hermione's implication that his family could not afford another mouth to feed while Harry, who it turned out was the one rubbing Neville's back, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I don't think it will take much alerting, the whole castle would have heard it."

The Gryffindor's didn't have to wait long to figure out what to do next as the matriarch of the noble house came forward looking at Neville with sad eyes trying to get him to calm down before he had a breakdown in front of the entire school. "Mr. Longbottom." She said as she neared them, placing a firm but comforting hand on the boys shoulder. "Come with me. You seem to be in quite a state, do you need to go to the hospital wing for a calming drought?"

Neville shook his head no before getting up on shaky legs to follow the professor. "Can we come too professor?" Harry asked trying to support Neville as best he could in the current situation, even more so because Neville was such a comfort to him before he came out."I just think that maybe it's a good idea for Neville to have some friends around."

"Very well." Professor Mconagall said before adding "Only you and Miss Weasley though Mr Potter. The last thing Mr Longbottom needs at the moment is to feel over crowded."

As the quartet left the Great Hall, Neville looked back and noticed for the first time that every eye in the room was on him.

They made it to professor Mconagall's office and Neville found himself being forcibly sat in the most cushioned chair in the room, which, considering that it was an office they were in, wasn't very comfortable at all. He looked up at his head of house who had sat down in front of him looking like she would rather like to take all his pain away herself. Clearing her throat, she asked softly and compassionately "What happened today Mr Longbottom?"

"I thought it was rather obvious Professor." He answered sarcastically and angrily, the shame and indignation about the whole event finally bubbling to the surface. "My dear old Granny has decided that I no longer fit into her grand scheme, so she forced me out of it."

"I understand that you are angry Mr Longbottom, but for us, and indeed yourself, to move forward in this, I need to know exactly why your grandmother would be so inclined, as you put it, to decide that you no longer fit into her grand scheme."

"Sorry Professor." Neville said looking to the desk in shame. 

"Please continue with the story, unless you would rather talk to one of your other professors about this?"

"No, it's ok. I'll talk." Neville said nervously wondering how his professor would react to his sexual preference. Taking a sigh, Neville recounted the events that lead to his current and rather unfortunate situation. "Well see Professor, I'm gay. I told my Gran in a letter so that I would know whether I would have a home to go to when the holidays started. She sent a reply today in the form of a howler, which I'm sure you saw because the rest of the school sure as hell did. Now I have nowhere to go and no one to stay with."

The professor smacked her lips together trying to decide what the next action would have to be while Neville's two friends sat trying to comfort the boy who had started crying towards the end of his speech. Mind made up, she offered the boy some tissues that were sitting next to her and allowed the boy time to gain some sort of composure before continuing.

"What are you going to do professor?" Asked Ginny, pondering what the stern but caring woman would suggest. She didn't like to see her friend in pain, even if he did lead her on.

"I believe a trip to the headmaster's office would be a good idea right about now. There are specific ways of dealing with situations such as these and as there is very little time left before the holidays, we need to act fast. I expect to see you Mr Longbottom, and only you, at the gargoyle leading to the headmaster's office. Considering the nature of this situation, and the blow you have been dealt, I believe that it would be alright if you would take the day off today."

The hour passed both too quickly and too slowly for Neville's liking. He had a lot of time during the hour to consider what his life would be like and who his new guardian would be, but he couldn't seem to relax at all. His nerves returned full force as he made his way up the stairs to the headmaster's office, trailing behind his transfiguration professor, secretly wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. When the pair walked into the office, there were three other people that Neville didn't recognise. One of them was a man who looked to be about 18. He was carrying a notepad and a thick folder that looked like the pages were about to fall out. The next was a woman with greying hair tied back in a bun and was sporting a look that suggested all work and no play. She smiled at Neville showing her crooked teeth and despite radiating a motherly nature, Neville distrusted her instantly. The third person in the room was a man with messy black hair, much like Harry's. He was shorter than most men his age, which looked to be about 40 and he has a physique that suggested lots of training and gym work. When he smiled at Neville, found he didn't mind this man as much as the woman in the room.

Neville took his seat in the office nearest to his head of house and Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and began the introductions. "Mr Longbottom, this is Hetty Lovett and her assistant Derreck Smith." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the woman and the younger male. "They work at the Ministry of Magic and specialise in cases exactly like this one."

Both of them said hello to Neville before Dumbledore continued. "This man to your right is Nathaniel Longbottom. I am not sure if you know him or not, but he is your uncle. Your father and he were close before the accident, but I am not sure of you would remember him."

Neville looked at the other man taking in all his features, realising that the man did have a rather familial resemblance. Nathaniel looked at Neville, taking in the other's looks, studying him in return. "I haven't seen you in such a long time Neville." He said to the boy. "I used to watch after you while your mum and dad were away. Well until the accident of course. Then your Gran wouldn't let me see you."

"It wasn't an accident." Neville muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"It wasn't an accident. It was deliberate." Neville said a little louder, feeling self conscious with all eyes in the room on him.

"Yes of course. You have my sincerest apologies." Nathaniel said trying to get the meeting moving along more. "I like you, am gay. Augusta disowned me when I came out too. It's also the reason why I was never allowed to see you after Frank was injured."

Neville looked up at the almost-stranger and asked anxiously "Would my mum and dad have hated me for being gay too Nathaniel?"

Nathaniel looked at Neville thoughtfully. "No they wouldn't, your mother and father didn't think any differently of me when I came out, so I do not see why it would be any different for you. Please call me Nate, only my partner calls me Nathaniel anymore and that's only when I've been naughty."

Neville giggled at that a little and was relieved that he could now know that his parents would have not had any issues with his sexuality.

Hetty cleared her throat causing all eyes to turn to her which Neville was secretly happy about as it meant that they were no longer focussed on him. "We must be getting on people, we are very busy. Mr Longbottom, we are here to tell you that given your age and that you grandmother has disowned you, Mr Longbottom...er... Nate, is vying for custody of you. We understand that some people just aren't compatible and because of this we have a requirement that the adopter and adoptee both meet up once a week to get to know each other before we assess if it would be a suitable solution to the problem. As we have rather urgent time constraints in this situation however, we believe that meeting up once a day until the holidays would be sufficient to determine if all needs are met."

Neville took in what he had just been told and thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. "Ok, so when do we start?"

"I think tomorrow would be good." said Dumbledore. "Nate will pick you up from outside the great hall after lunch tomorrow afternoon and you can get to know each other. The only thing I ask is that if it isn't a Hogsmeade day, which we only have one of those left before the holidays, that you stay within Hogwarts grounds and away from the forbidden forest."

"Sounds reasonable to me." said Nate, hoping that Neville would like him, as he was certain that he would like the boy. "Unfortunately I must be going. I have to be back at work in five minutes. If I could get those papers from you to look over, that would be great and I will return them to you first thing tomorrow morning."

Derreck handed the papers over to Nate and Nate looked at Neville saying "I look forward to getting to know you once more Neville and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night."

Neville smiled tentatively in return and watched as his potential new guardian walked to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and took off.

Hetty turned to the remaining occupants of the room and passed McGonagall the next folder stating that she would like for her to look through it with Neville and help him to fill it out properly before turning with her assistant and departing as well.

"Well." Dumbledore said "It seems like you have a lot to think about today. Minerva, I believe you have a class to teach?"

"Certainly headmaster." McGonagall said and both Gryffindors bid farewell to the headmaster and left to go their separate ways, McGonagall left the file with Neville to read through and check in case he had any questions for tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The First Meet and Greet.**

Neville stood at the entrance to the great hall nervously tapping his fingers against the wall he was leaning on and remembering the events that had led to this moment, from his Gran disowning him, his meeting with professor Dumbledore and professor McGonagall, the two agents from the ministry interfering in his life, and lastly, seeing his uncle Nate for the first time in many, many years who was a prospective guardian for Neville. Something he apparently needed even though he was quite sure he could look after himself and did not need the help of others.

He had received a letter earlier in the day with the morning post which outlined exactly what Nate would like to do with him during their little outing together, but also stated that he would not mind changing some plans if Neville would like to do something else or if the boy was not comfortable doing something that Nate had set out. Basically, the plan was for Nate to take Neville out to a movie called Mr Popper's Penguins which the man had informed in his letter, was a comedy aimed at children, but funny for teens and adults as well so he was sure that Neville would enjoy it. Neville was not sure how he felt about the movies due to the fact that he had never been to the cinema before because his Gran had raised him largely in the wizarding world with very little interactions with muggles, but Hermione assured him that he would enjoy it. Next, Nate was planning on taking the teen to his home, showing Neville his house, and the town he lived in so that Neville could make a proper and well informed decision about where he would live and if he would accept Nate's offer. Neville thought that it was a good idea as he was rather curious about where his uncle resided and he would not like to accept the man's offer and then find out that he lived with five other loud and dangerous housemates. Even though Nate didn't seem the type to do that , Neville would still rather be on the safe side than have some nasty surprise waiting around the corner for him. With this thought, Neville realised that he knew nothing about this man beyond his name and his relation to Neville. He didn't know his likes, his dislikes, his career, where he lived and most importantly, he didn't know who the other member's of the man's family were. 'Then again,' Neville thought 'I guess that's why we're having these meetings.' What was becoming apparent though, was the man's obsession with all things muggle. If today's schedule was any indication, clearly the man wasn't prejudice against non-magic folk. Neville made a mental note to ask Nate why all the muggle-specific activities.

Neville was thrown out of his thoughts by two separate people walking up the deserted hall way, most of the school was empty, with most of the other students going to Hogsmeade for the day. The two people were having a conversation, and although Neville couldn't make out what was being said, he immediately recognised the deep baritone voice of his potions professor, professor Snape. He quickly jumped off the wall and straightened his tie wondering if the other person conversing with the sour professor was his long-lost uncle.

As the pair rounded the corner, Neville's assumption was proved correct as his uncle and his stern professor came into view. Neville clasped his sweaty hands in front of him and waited for the two to come to a stop a few feet away from him. Neville took this moment to properly study his uncle from head-to-toe, something he had neglected to do when he was first introduced in the headmaster's office. The older man was short, even compared to professor Snape, who was by no means a tall man himself. He had a well-toned body which Neville could clearly make out under his black suit. He had black hair that was rather spiky, much like Harry's, except more manageable. Nate also had the brightest blue eyes that Neville had ever seen. "Hi Neville," Nate greeted the anxiously boy warmly, trying to put him at ease.

Neville realised he had been staring so he simply waved at the man opposite him, his mouth having suddenly gone dry.

Snape broke the awkward silence by laying down the ground rules for their daily meetings. "We have a few minor details to sort out before you leave on your little outing. Mr. Longbottom must be back on school grounds and in his dormitory no later than 9 P.M tonight. You are not to do anything illegal or questionable while on your outings, you cannot undertake in any activity that both of you do not agree to and you are to report to Professor McGonagall upon your return so that she knows you are safe and details for the following meeting can be arranged. Should anything go wrong, you are to contact a Hogwarts professor immediately. Failure to comply with any of these rules will see a serious review of the interactions you have had together and it may be deemed that you are not a suitable match. So be warned, be on your best behaviour." The stern professor said. Neville was quite shocked, though Snape had been lecturing them, he had done so without his usual snide mannerisms. To Neville, it seemed he was almost being cordial about the entire affair.

Without so much as another ward, the bat-like professor turned on his heel and swept back down the hall the way he had come, heading down to the dungeon leaving the newly reacquainted man and teen standing together in the deserted corridor.

Nate cleared his throat, trying to rid himself of the bile that had accumulated there because of his nervousness. "Shall we depart then Neville? The movie will be starting shortly and we have to walk to the cinema from the leaky cauldron. I thought we would travel by floo today, I didn't quite know how you felt about side-along apparition."

"Ok, lets go then," Neville replied and the two walked up to the headmaster's office to use the floo so they could walk to the cinema from there.

* * *

Neville was practically bouncing off the walls when they left the cinema and had forgotten all about his earlier apprehension. He decided that his favourite part was the popcorn. "Oh my gosh. That was awesome! I loved it! Can we go again later? I would really like to see something else soon. That was awesome!"

Nate laughed at Neville's excitement. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm sure we can come again soon but right now I have a tour to give you."

The duo departed the cinema, heading to the leaky cauldron where they then flooed to Nate's house. On their way back to the leaky cauldron, Neville lost his earlier calm mood as he began thinking about where Nate would live. The address that Nate gave him didn't sound familiar to Neville but Nate was waiting on the other side and caught Neville when he came tumbling out of the fireplace and stopped him from going face first into the wall.

"Welcome to my home Neville. Hopefully it will be your home as well in due time. May as well start here," Nate said as he let go of Neville, making sure he wasn't about to topple over. "This is the living room." He said gesturing to the room they were currently standing in.

Neville looked around at the house and was relieved to see that it was a well furnished and presentable home. The walls were painted a light off white colour, the floor was polished wood, but when Neville took off his shoes, he was surprised that his feet were not very cold. Seeing Neville's confused look he laughed and commented "I'm a wizard Neville, I have warming charms on my floor. Well my partner actually got quite irritated with my complaining about cold feet in the morning so he actually put them on."

Neville smiled back and giggled a little, imagining Nate whining about something so trivial and found that he was curious to meet Nate's partner. Clearly Nate was dating another wizard, something that Neville was glad to hear, he couldn't imagine having to keep something like that hidden from his own boyfriend.

Neville was surprised to see a number of muggle electrical devices that he couldn't remember the name of most of them. He did recognise the television sitting in a pine wood cabinet. It looked very big in Neville's opinion. The pair continued the tour with Nate showing Neville around the house including the room that Neville would have if he were to stay with Nate. It was decorated in cool blues with a navy duvet and mahogany bedside tables. "It's all ready for you to move in should you decide that you do want to stay and should you like to change it, the colour scheme or anything, you are more than welcome to."

Neville smiled at Nate, thinking to himself how accommodating Nate was being for him. "I think it's brilliant." Neville said, beginning to get a little more relaxed about a new place to stay without having to be concerned about hiding his true self for fear of scorn.

The pair spent the rest of their time at the house after the tour playing a muggle game called Guitar Hero. Neville couldn't quite get the hang of it but it did remind him to ask Nate something he had been curious about since he received his letter. "So I was wondering..." Neville started nervously.

"It's alright if you want to ask a question Neville. If it's something I don't want to answer I will tell you so, but I will not get angry at you for asking."

"Ok then. I was wondering why you had so much muggle stuff planned and why you have all these muggle devices. I mean, do you particularly like muggles?" Neville asked, staring nervously down at his hands.

"That's not a question you should be nervous about. I have always loved muggle things. In fact, my first ever boyfriend was a muggle. Your Gran was always very strict about proper decorum as I'm sure you know, so I didn't get to experience anything like muggle culture until I got disowned. When I did I absolutely fell in love with it. They are so like us you know? Everyone says they are so different, ignorant even, but they aren't. It's almost magical the things they can do." As Nate was saying this he got a far off look on his face as if reminiscing about a great time in the past.

The duo made their way into town that afternoon and Nate gave Neville a tour of the area. Neville was not surprised, given everything that had happened, that the town where Nate was living was a muggle town. They had dinner at a restaurant before heading back to Hogwarts.

Once back in the towering walls of the castle, they reported to professor McGonagall before heading in their separate directions with Nate saying that he would send Neville a letter, informing him of their next meeting together and said that if Neville would like to do anything, he should feel free to open up and suggest it at any time.

Neville made his way back to the common room with a large smile on his face thinking how fun the day was and how much he was looking forward to the next day. He was also very exhausted though and as soon as he arrived in his dormitory he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep straight away.

* * *

**AN:** I know it's been forever since I updated. I wont make excuses. I have been very busy though, but I'm trying to improve my rate of updating though so hopefully there will be another chapter up soon. Sorry for the wait. Please Review!


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